Jerusalem - The Israeli army has closed a criminal investigation into the death of a paraplegic Palestinian man shot while demonstrating along Gaza’s border with Israel in 2017, saying the probe found “no evidence” that its soldiers fired the fatal bullet.
The army said Friday it shot toward “the lower parts of main instigators” in response to a “violent riot.”
The 29-year-old Ibrahim Abu Thraya, hailed as a symbol of heroism by Palestinians, died after a bullet struck his head, according to Palestinian medical records obtained by The Associated Press, during a protest against President Trump’s decision to recognize contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Witnesses said no gunfire came from the Palestinian side.
Human rights groups ...

BALTIMORE —
Baltimore Mayor Jack Young is laying out his plan to deal with the ongoing ransomware attack that continues to impact the city's computer systems.
Young has been mayor of Baltimore for 16 days, 11 of which the city has been held hostage by a ransomware attack.
"We haven't heard of anything being erased, but I hope that they understand the harm they're doing to people," Young said.
Officials believe the RobinHood virus hit the city's computer network sometime early on May 7, cutting off the ability to process daily urban life. The Police Department can't email and people can't pay speeding tickets or tax liens.
Real estate transactions were stopped cold in the attack. No one can buy or sell property, and the city can't collect a majo...

Baltimore, MD - May 17, 2019 - This Shabbos, May 18, is the annual running of the Preakness. In past years, following the race, there have been some rowdy individuals driving through our neighborhoods on their way home from the event. Most of this activity takes place on Park Heights and Greenspring Avenues, especially during the late afternoon/early evening hours. Although extra police will be patrolling our community on Shabbos, pedestrians who will be on the main roads should be extra vigilant and aware of their surroundings, especially while crossing streets. Please also remind your children to be extra cautious when playing or walking near major thoroughfares.

Damascus - Several explosions were heard in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday night as the country’s air defenses opened fire on “objects” coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, state media reported.
State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Syrian air defenses discovered “hostile targets” coming from the direction of the Quenitra region on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The news agency said Syrian air defenses shot down several “objects.”
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported three explosions southwest of Damascus. It added that it was not immediately clear if the explosions were caused by Israeli airstrikes or sur...

An NYPD officer was arrested after she tried to have a hitman hired to kill her ex-husband, a police official tells NBC 4 New York.
The official said Valerie Cincinelli, 34, tried to get her current boyfriend to hire a hitman. Cincinelli was arrested Friday by the FBI. NYPD Internal Affairs assisted in her arrest.
The officer previously worked out of the 106th Precinct in Queens, before being placed on modified duty in 2017 for an unrelated domestic incident, the police official said.
Before that though, she was an award-winning officer, including a "cop of the month" award from the Jamaica Rotary in June 2017.
Cincinelli, who joined the NYPD in 2007, was most recently in a unit known as VIPER that monitored security cameras. Read more at NBC NY

Tallahassee, FL - Florida’s governor plans to fight a federal plan to fly hundreds of immigrants from the Mexican border to two South Florida counties, saying Friday he’ll take his case to President Donald Trump.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis made his remarks a day after being caught off guard when Broward and Palm Beach county officials said they were notified by U.S. Border Patrol that more than a 100 immigrants would be sent weekly to each of the counties starting in about two weeks.
“We cannot accommodate in Florida just dumping unlawful migrants into our state. I think it will tax our resources, the schools, the health care, law enforcement, state agencies,” DeSantis told reporters in Sarasota after a bill signing ceremony.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Brads...

The Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers on Friday thanked British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn for his expression of solidarity toward a pro-Palestinian rally in London.
In a written statement, Corbyn voiced his support for the annual demonstration marking the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”), when Palestinians mourn their mass displacement that resulted from Israel’s war for independence in 1948. Corbyn also called on the UK government to freeze arms sales to Israel, a demand he has made repeatedly.
Hamas responded saying the embattled Labour leader, who faces accusations of fostering anti-Semitism in his party, expressed support and solidarity with the Palestinian people “and their inalienable rights to freedom, perseverance, and self-determination.”
Rea...

The intense heat wave that rolled through Israel is expected to cool down over Shabbos.
The weather will continue to be warmer than usual on Friday but by the afternoon cooler air will be felt in Israel and temperatures will begin to drop as humidity will rise.
Friday night will be partly cloudy and th erest of the weekend see a significant decrease in temperature and increase in humidity.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.

A fifth-grader at a Tennessee public school was sent to the principal’s office this week after telling students to stop doing Nazi salutes.
“Please comment with support for my 11-year-old daughter. She was removed from class and sent to the principal’s office for the rest of the day last Thursday for shouting, ‘Stop it, put your hands down now,’ to a group of students giving the Nazi salute,” tweeted Keith Gamble, the child’s father.
In a Twitter thread, Gamble detailed how his daughter was bullied by students giving Nazi salutes “in the hallways and at recess for weeks, after a teacher assigned a student to give the Nazi salute in a Hitler costume for an assignment.”
“Each time, my daughter spoke out even though she was told b...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez confronted a CEO Thursday for pricing a drug designed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission at $8 in Australia but over $1,500 in the U.S.
“You’re the CEO of Gilead. Is it true that Gilead made $3 billion in profits from Truvada in 2018?” Ocasio-Cortez asked Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day.
“$3 billion in revenue,” he clarified.
“The current list price is $2,000 a month in the United States, correct?” she asked, referring to Truvada.
“It’s $1,780 in the United States,” O’Day responded.
“Why is it $8 in Australia?” Ocasio-Cortez countered.
“Truvada still has patent protection in the United States and in the rest of the world it is generic,” O’Day explained, addi...

Have you seen Joseph Thomas Fields III? Police said the child is believed to be with his father.
A 2-year-old is missing from the Randallstown area, and police have asked for help finding him. He is believed to be with his father, who is wanted for violating a custody agreement, according to police.
Joseph Thomas Fields III, 2, was last seen in Hoopers Island in Dorchester County, officials reported on Friday, May 17.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Baltimore County Police Department at 410-307-2020.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Government auditors say Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson violated the law when his department spent more than $40,000 to purchase a dining set and a dishwasher for his office’s executive dining room.
In a report released Thursday, the Government Accountability Office says the agency failed to notify Congress before exceeding a $5,000 limit to furnish or make improvements to a presidential appointee’s office. The dining set cost more than $31,000 and the dishwasher cost nearly $9,000.
Carson told lawmakers last year that he was unaware of the pricey purchase and canceled it as soon as he learned about it in news reports. He also said he left furniture purchasing decisions to his wife.
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island say...

As the "Click It or Ticket" campaign begins, Maryland State Police will be watching for seat belts and specifically enforcing one other law.
It takes just two seconds to buckle up when going for a drive. But for whatever reason, many skip this potentially life-saving step, putting themselves at greater risk of dying in a crash.
More than 120 unbelted drivers and passengers are killed each year in Maryland, according to Maryland State Police.
Beginning Monday, 10,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, including Maryland State Police, will scour the roads to bust some of the estimated 27.5 million unbuckled travelers.
It's known as "Click It or Ticket." You know the drill. The campaign, which runs from May 20 through June 2, aims to enforce seat belt use to keep drivers and ...

The White House Opens a New Window.and the Commerce Department have made Friday one of the busiest for trade newsOpens a New Window. in recent months.
Early afternoon, the United States and Canada agreed to jointly lift tariffs on steel and aluminum.
In a statement, the two countries said:
"After extensive discussions on trade in steel and aluminum.... the United States and Canada have reached an understanding as follows, the United States and Canada agree to eliminate, no later than two days from the issuance of this statement, all tariffs the United States imposed under Section 232 on imports of aluminum and steel products from Canada. Additionally, "the United States and Canada agree to terminate all pending litigation."
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau ...

The Trump administration is looking to hire a private contractor that will be responsible for transporting approximately 225,000 migrant children and families to shelters across the country over the next five years as they wait for their asylum claims to be processed.
ICE (the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) is seeking the services of a “highly responsible” contractor that “fully embraces the philosophy” of treating all unaccompanied minors (UACs) and family units (FAMUs) with “dignity and respect,” according to a federal procurement document dated May 13.
The private company will be hired to transport approximately 60,000 people a year. It will work to arrange commercial flights and ground tr...

On the first day of Pesach, Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib offered the “Jewish sisters and brothers” among her constituents Passover greetings, accompanied by a graphic that included two fluffy loaves of bread. A similar faux pas (perhaps, here, articulating the French should-be-silent “s”) was part of the British Labor Party’s seasonal greeting as well.
Ms. Tlaib’s ignorance of one of the most important and widely-recognized elements of Pesachobservance nicely paralleled her similar unawareness of the history of the Jews and Eretz Yisrael.
Her unbridled support of the “Palestinian cause” reveals an obliviousness to the uninterrupted Jewish presence over millennia in the land that today comprises the state of Israe...

Beijing - The trade war with the United States will only make China stronger and will never bring the country to its knees, the Communist Party’s People’s Daily wrote in a front page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of past wars.
The world’s two largest economies are locked in an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute that has seen them level tariffs on each other’s imports.
Tensions worsened this week after the Trump administration officially added China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to a trade blacklist, immediately enacting restrictions that will make it extremely difficult for the telecom giant to do business with U.S. companies.
In a stridently nationalistic commentary, the ruling party’s official newspaper described China’s deter...

Arlington, MA - Authorities in a Boston suburb are investigating a second suspicious fire at a rabbi’s home in less than a week.
Acting Arlington Police Chief Julie Flaherty said officers and firefighters responded to the home at about 9 p.m. Thursday and doused a small fire on the home’s exterior wood shingles with a hand-held extinguisher.
Firefighters also put out a shingle fire at the home Saturday night.
Flaherty has placed a full-time detail at the home where the rabbi lives with his wife and children and holds religious education classes.
Authorities continue to look for a person seen in surveillance video apparently walking away from the rabbi’s house at the time of Saturday’s fire.
The Anti-Defamation League has reported that violent attacks against th...